Twitchers, Ornithologists & Feathered Friend Fanciers #5

[AB Editor]

Hello, and welcome to the fifth edition of "Twitchers, Ornithologists & Feathered Friend Fanciers".

As usual the previous issues of this illustrious thread are located below.

Do any of you go on regular bird-watching trips? If so, what do you normally take along with you? I understand that you'd need binoculars and a flask of tea, but are there any other bird-watching "essentials" that you just cannot do without?

Issue 1

Issue 2

Issue 3

Issue 4

[redman41]

Many thanks once again Ed for providing us with Version 5 !
Yes I love the Birding outings especially if the weather is favourable as it's a good excuse for a Picnic as well, especially if one is in good company. Much nicer to share sightings and compare notes with like minded enthusiasts when committed to this worthwhile and rewarding Hobby.

[rowanwitch]

OK ED... essentials notebook, field guide, binoculars, flask, hip flask, packet of biiscuits, pencils, camera, puzzle book for when nothing is showing.

And for the real posers...Titanium Tripod £1200
Digiscope and camera set up £2000 + or high power spotting scope around the same
lightweight binoculars eg swarovski £599 or bushnell
10x 50s for quick distance viewing also bushnell or swarovski around £1000
hide clamp
lens box with 3 or 4 lenses for scope at around £300 each

I kid you not thats the kind of gear I'vew shared hide space with.... and these are often the pillocks who get excited by something common as muck just because a field guide written 20 years ago (the seminal work) puhleeeeze said its a rarity
Oh do look ...im sure thats a.... you can tell by the profile.... I'm sure its a little grebe

Yes its a bl00dy dabchick theres about 10 of them over by that reedbed...did you see the merganser or did you think it was just an odd mallard


Me pair of 8x30s , notebook field guide combined, flask and a packed lunch and I used to take Redman.... a lot cheaper than a tripod and a first aid kit hiking over reserves gives you blisters

[Avatar]

You missed off "dudes" from the list AB Ed. Thats what I class myself as.
My answser to what I take is - it depends. If I'm going to an estuary, seaside or lake then the scope and tripod is in the rucksack,
If im mainly in woods then the scope can be left at home and perhaps take a DSLR and telephoto lens instead.

plus 0.5litre flask of coffee in winter, bottle of coke summer, proper walking boots or approach shoes on, dependent on mud levels.

10x 50 Opticron binos slung round neck, warm beanie hat on in winter, peaked cap in summer.

and of course packet of mints in pocket.

[rowanwitch]

bet you don't tell everyone what your kit cost though...I drives me nuts....

[redman41]

Spot on with your observations Rowan ! Many of these so called 'Twitchers' are more interested in their equipment than the actual joy of Bird watching ! More a case of 'My Scope/Tripod is bigger and better than yours'. Yes it would be nice to have the best Binoculars/Scopes, but for the majority of us what Rowan and I were using was more than sufficient for everyday Birding !

[lslowry]

I go with the local RSPB group every month, apart from going with a couple of mates on a weekly basis, usually taking my scope and bins. Now i take my camera with a 70-300 zoom lens and bins leaving my scope at home. I cannot carry all that i'd like to. The walk and day out is just as enjoying as seeing the birds.

[Milvus]

Normal stuff for me too, binocs, zoom camera, field guide but I also take an iPod with a full set of British birdsong recordings for those frequent moments when you hear but not see

[NazNomad]

I like to enjoy the birds, so it's usually just a camera I take, in case I see anything I fancy.

I like to just sit there, watch the whole 'display' and listen to them too.

I see a lot of 'twitchers' that remind me of holiday-makers ... the only view of the stunning places they visit is through a lens ... which saddens me.

If you see my point ... :-(

That said, I don't take long excursions to see birds, I don't need to - I certainly wouldn't travel afar to glimpse a rarity, that's not what it's about for me.

[lslowry]

I was in Llandudno the other year when a rare tern was spotted. People came from all over Britain to look for it, travelling hundreds of miles overnight. When i asked them what they were looking for they told me where they had come from and why. Of course it had gone by the time they arrived . Not for me i'm afraid,if they aren't there in front of me it's just my bad luck. You couldn't call me a twitcher!!

[redman41]

The previous 4 Issues yielded a Total of 598 Postings which is excellent, and goes to show that a permanent 'Bird' Section under Animals & Nature is long overdue.
It's a well liked Forum and hopefully in the near future AB Ed will grant us our wish.

[ethandron]

we were walkers first, then started feeding the birds in the garden and bought a book so we could identify them. then bought a pair of binos, then a second pair so we wouldn't squabble over them, and so on and so on, just gradually got reeled in to the whole birdwatching thing. what we enjoy is that it enhances our walking and hiking experience and we now tend to plan our walks around good birding places and never go without a pair of bins.
as well as those who tell you the cost etc., of all their equipment and happily shove you out of the way to get a shot, and those who wouldn't share a viewing if it killed them, we've also met and chatted to some really, really lovely people who are so informative and interesting and thankfully they tend to be in the majority.
rarely take tea or food, but always take the bins and field guide, also specs to read said field guide and tissue to wipe nose which starts to drip 5 minutes after entering hide.

[rowanwitch]

just realised Ed you've moved it....

[ruthann58]

pleased to see this on the main page , dont go out to watch the birds we just follow the ones in the garden but do admit to having 3 pairs of binocs at differnt window so as not to miss anything , the sparrows are my favourites we now have about a dozen that sleep in the ivy on the front of our house when i first started feeding we only had 3

[seadogg]

Lot of primary woodland on our patch so rustle free clothing is handy to get the drop on birds. Both they and mammals have sharp hearing. Apart from lightweight binoculars a battered Optolyth 30 by 75 GA scope over the shoulder is useful for keeping an eye on the bay beneath. Oh, and a border terrier with sense.

[rowanwitch]

A bit of a rare breed Seadogg....any sort of terrier with sense...
Agree about the rustle proof clothes though...and match to environment... have my eye on a woodland camo jacket at our local army surplus store but the desert one would be great for winter reed beds.... just the right tones

[NazNomad]

Well, it didn't take them long to get used to the new building development. Turned on the TV this morning and there's a Blue Tit flitting in and out of the new camera-nestbox. :-)

[redman41]

Waxwings are still around in North Wales ! 8 seen in Llandudno today near Links Hotel. Rowan will kill me for mentioning this !!!
Ospreys back at Porthmadog ready for the nesting season, nice to see them come back every Year now.

[rowanwitch]

Waxwings!!!!!!

At least theres a chance to see the ospreys this year

[seadogg]

My rockery bank voles have competition from long tailed field mice and sparrows. They attack both with vigour and see them off their feeding spot but when the same sparrows fly overhead they scuttle for cover. Usual reflex I suppose. Sooner or later the weasels are going to return and put paid to them.

[seadogg]

Do you catch the ospreys in passage or is there a nest nearby Rowan? Love your Brunnhilde avatar by the way.